Coloring Inside the Lines

I am going to put out the disclaimer before writing this post and say that I *understand* that the *supposed* reason for making children color inside the lines at school is to increase their fine motor skills tuning. However, I believe there is a much more powerful message being sent to our children with the demand that they "color inside the lines" for better grades.

So why is it we are so proud of children when they color inside the lines on coloring books? And what is with the American fascination with coloring books with already made pictures in them? I can understand the idea of my children drawing a picture..of a dragon for example, and then wanting to color that dragon in and stay inside the lines. But why should my children feel inclined to stay inside lines someone else drew for them?

The message being sent to our kids by demanding they stay inside the lines someone else drew is a message that wreaks of conformity. This line is here. It is here because I say so. The "Powers that Be" put that line there. You must not cross it. I want my children to build their own boundaries, their own sense of self, and color their own pictures inside their own lines. I love giving them blank papers to draw and color on. I loathe printed coloring books.

I am not a conformist. As a midwife I simply cannot be a conformist. Going against the grain is in my blood, and in my very soul. I will never praise my children for coloring inside someone else's lines, I will instead celebrate their uniqueness when they draw their own pictures or find a way to make someone else's drawing uniquely their own (in or outside the lines).

The next time you are at the store and consider picking your child up a coloring book, consider, instead, reaching for the blank crayola sketch books designed for children, and let them draw their own lines and find their own uniqueness within themselves.